Shekhawat
to be NDA candidate for VP’s postNew Delhi, July 15Former Rajasthan Chief Minister
Bhairon Singh Shekhawat will be the National Democratic Alliance (NDA)
candidate for the August 12 vice-presidential elections. Mr
Shekhawat’s candidature is expected to be announced by tomorrow, BJP
sources have said.

Alexander
to take on CongressNew Delhi, July 15Miffed at having lost out in the
Presidential stakes and much to the chagrin of the Congress, former
Maharashtra Governor P.C. Alexander is standing as an Independent
candidate for the Rajya Sabha from Maharashtra backed by the Nationalist
Congress Party.

Fund-starved ultras turn robbersNew Delhi, July 15There is a growing concern among the security forces over the change in terrorists’ tactics following a crackdown on their finances and funding from abroad.

United
Muslim Front formedMeerut, July 15The United Muslim Front, comprising
seven Muslim political parties of north India, was formed here today.

Judges’
strength in UTs being raisedNew Delhi, July 15The government has “initiated
necessary action” to increase the strength of Judges in Union
Territories in compliance with a Supreme Court judgement stressing a
ratio of 50 Judges per million of the population as against the existing
13 Judges per million people, it was officially stated today.

Saxena
to continue till J&K pollNew Delhi, July 15There will be no change in Jammu
and Kashmir Governor and Mr G.C. Saxena would continue to occupy this
post till the elections for the state Assembly are held later this
year.

PUCL for
involvement of people in J&KHyderabad, July 15The national president of the
People’s Union of Civil Liberties (PUCL) K.G. Kannabiran today
called for the involvement of the people of Jammu and Kashmir in
decision-making to resolve the issues contributing to political
turbulence in the state.

NCM
meeting leaves out Ayodhya, GujaratNew Delhi, July 15Leaders belonging to the majority
and minority community continued to be disillusioned and obdurate
after exchanging views for an hour and a half at the National
Commission for Minorities (NCM) office here today.

A meeting between Hindu
and Muslim leaders in progress at the National Commission of
Minorities in New Delhi on Monday. — PTI photo

2 Dalit
women gangraped, paraded nakedHazaribagh, July 15In a shocking incident, two Dalit
women were gangraped, stripped naked and paraded in the street of a
village in extremist-hit Hazaribagh district of Jharkhand on Friday,
according to a delayed official report here today.

Self-immolation
by Vaiko supporterTiruchirapalli, Tamil
Nadu, July 15A 35-year-old MDMK functionary
has committed self-immolation in protest against the arrest of his
leader Vaiko.

No
water in Bengal schools: UNICEFKolkata, July 15In what could explain the high
incidence of water-borne diseases among young school-goers, a UNICEF
study has revealed that most of the over 51,000 primary schools in
West Bengal were completely devoid of water and sanitation facilities,
exposing children to contaminated sources of drinking water.

SSP
victims air grievancesBhopal, July 15Representatives of the Narmada
Control Authority, the Narmada Valley Development Authority (NVDA) and
the Grievances Redressal Authority chose to ignore the invitations to
attend a public hearing at Chikhalda village in Dhar district on
Saturday where the Sardar Sarovar project-affected people from the
Narmada valley accused the authorities of resorting to high-handed
methods to force them out of their villages.

Modi
award for KasturiranganNew Delhi, July 15Space Commission Chairman K.
Kasturirangan and Secretary, Department of Biotechnology, Manju
Sharma, have been chosen for this year’s G. M. Modi Innovative
Science and Technology Award for their works in the fields of space
technology and biotechnology, respectively.

Govt
goes hard on soft pornNew Delhi, July 15The exhibition of soft
pornographic films cannot be legalised through issuance of special
XA-rated censor certificates, the Information and Broadcasting
Ministry has said.

Viagra
test gets RSS backingKochi, July 15The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh
(RSS) today came out in support of a recent controversial test
conducted at a city hospital using sildenafil citrate (Viagra) to save
the lives of three newborn babies.

TUs
plan march to ParliamentNew Delhi, July 15A national assembly of workers
convened by various central trade unions in the Capital today strongly
condemned the “anti-labour” economic policies of the NDA
government and announced a five-phase action programme to oppose them,
including a march to Parliament in the next Budget session.

New Delhi, July 15
Former Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhairon Singh Shekhawat will be the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidate for the August 12 vice-presidential elections.

Mr Shekhawat’s candidature is expected to be announced by tomorrow, BJP sources have said.

That the BJP had decided to field Mr Shekhawat for the Vice-President’s post is evident from the fact that his name has not figured in the 72-member National Executive of the party announced by party President M. Venkaiah Naidu on July 12.

A septuagenarian, Mr Shekhawat is the longest serving legislator of the BJP and the erstwhile Bharatiya Jan Sangh. He has been elected to the Rajasthan Assembly since 1952 and is presently Leader of the Opposition there.

BJP spokesman Vijay Kumar Malhotra, has maintained that Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee will decide on the candidature after consulting leaders of various parties. He has neither confirmed nor denied Mr Shekhawat’s candidature.

Meanwhile, Mr Vajpayee, who has been authorised by the NDA to finalise the vice-presidential candidate, has initiated consultations with opposition parties in an effort to arrive at a consensus on the issue.

The Prime Minister is understood to have contacted Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav in this regard. While details of the talks are not yet known, political sources indicate that Mr Yadav has responded positively to the NDA’s proposal.

Bahujan Samaj Party leader and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati has already announced her party’s support to the NDA candidate.

Mr Vajpayee is also expected to discuss the issue with Congress President Sonia Gandhi before making the announcement.

The Congress is believed to have conveyed that it may support a Scheduled Caste candidate for the post.

New Delhi, July 15
Miffed at having lost out in the Presidential stakes and much to the chagrin of the Congress, former Maharashtra Governor P.C. Alexander is standing as an Independent candidate for the Rajya Sabha from Maharashtra backed by the Nationalist Congress Party.

Even as the octogenarian Mr Alexander filed his nomination papers in Mumbai today, the Congress has fielded Suresh Keshwani for the NCP, seat in the House of Elders which had fallen vacant due to the death of Mukesh Patel.

The continuing spat between the Congress and NCP constituents of the Democratic Front government in Maharashtra has added a new dimension to the ensuing election to the Rajya Sabha fixed for July 25.

The NCP’s first choice for the Rajya Sabha seat was Tariq Anwar and as expected it did not find favour with the Congress. Ultimately, the NCP chief and Maharashtra strongman Sharad Pawar decided to back the candidature of Mr Alexander as an Independent and appealed to all parties to elect the former Governor and administrator unanimously.

After having opposed Mr Alexander’s candidature for the high office of President, the Congress could not have gone along with the NCP. It appears Mr Alexander has decided to take on the challenge posed by the Congress.

The BJP-led NDA which had initially proposed the name of Mr Alexander for the office of President had to dump him because of lack of consensus in the political firmament. Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and Mr Pawar have worked out an arrangement to assuage the feelings of Mr Alexander.

Weighing the pros and cons and considering his proximity to Mr Pawar and Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray, Mr Alexander decided to take the plunge at the last minute as it were despite the delicate arithmetic in the Maharashtra legislature.

However, Mr Alexander’s entry in the Rajya Sabha should be without serious hiccups with the BJP and the Shiv Sena backing his candidature. That could lead to serious fissures developing in the delicately balanced Democratic Front government in Maharashtra.

Speculation is rife about “what next” once Mr Alexander gets elected to the Rajya Sabha. If that happens, Mr Alexander will have a six-year spell in the House of Elders and there is every likelihood of Mr Vajpayee utilising his services. It is widely perceived that Mr Alexander’s entry into the Rajya Sabha might pave the way for a ministerial berth in Mr Vajpayee’s Cabinet though this has been denied stoutly by the Prime Minister’s aides.

Mumbai, July 15
A week after his resignation as Maharashtra Governor, Mr P.C. Alexander today filed his nomination for a byelection to the Rajya Sabha seat from the state as an independent candidate after the NCP declared support to him.

Mr Alexander, 81, was accompanied by senior NCP leader and Deputy Chief Minister Chhagan Bhujbal and NCP state unit chief Babanrao Pachpute on the last day of filing nominations. In the morning, NCP president Sharad Pawar declared his party’s support to Alexander’s candidature.

Meanwhile, the Shiv
Sena-BJP opposition combine in Maharashtra today joined NCP in extending its unconditional support for the candidature of Mr Alexander for the Rajya Sabha seat from the state.

“Mr Alexander through his conduct, set high standards during his nine years’ tenure as the Governor of the state and the
Sena-BJP combine is extending unconditional support to him for his bid for the RS seat,” Leader of Opposition in the state assembly Narayan Rane told reporters here.

Mr
Rane, flanked by BJP national vice-president Gopinath Munde, said the saffron combine felt that Mr Alexander’s term as the Governor was “ideal”.

Besides Mr Alexander, a
Mumbai-based businessman and former Rajya Sabha member Suresh Keswani has also filed his nomination as an independent candidate for the seat, polling for which will be held on July 25. The seat fell vacant due to death of NCP member Mukesh Patel.
PTI

New Delhi, July 15
There is a growing concern among the security forces over the change in terrorists’ tactics following a crackdown on their finances and funding from abroad.

Not only have the terrorists turned to looting banks but have also started targeting poor civilians. There have been various incidents of terrorists, mainly foreign mercenaries, resorting to robbing civilians at gunpoint.

There is also alarm within the security forces over the sudden decrease in the number of terrorists being killed while those of the security personnel has remained the same. The change in trend is again reflective of the change in tactics adopted by the terrorists holed up in Jammu and Kashmir.

Within the last week the terrorists have resorted to two bank robberies in Kashmir and looting another civilian at gunpoint. While over Rs 6 lakh were looted from a bank in Safakadal, about Rs 2 lakh were picked up from a bank in Saidpora in Baramulla. In another incident terrorists waylaid a civilian in Pulwama and snatched over Rs 20,000 from him.

Sources said the change in the tactics was primarily due to the crackdown on the finances and foreign funding of the terrorist organisations. According to estimates, over Rs 2 crore had so far been seized by the security agencies from various sources which had been providing resources to terrorist organisations over the past one year.

The raids conducted by the security forces have brought to light the direct funding of these organisations by the Pakistan secret agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). From the arrest of Abdul Majid Sheikh and Showkat Ahmed Din in 2001 to recent arrest of Hurriyat Conference leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Imtiaz Bazaz and some Dubai-based and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir-based persons late last month have resulted in the busting of the foreign funding network of terrorist organisations.

But what is emerging as a more alarming situation is the corresponding decrease in the number of terrorists being killed in comparison to security forces personnel in Jammu and Kashmir. It has the security forces on
tenterhooks as the terrorists have now started to adopt new methods of launching attacks at smaller parties of security personnel rather than taking bigger camps with surprise.

As a result while the number of security personnel killed has remained the same over a corresponding period of 45 days, the number of terrorists
targeted has gone down.

Meerut, July 15
The United Muslim Front, comprising seven Muslim political parties of north India, was formed here today.

Speaking on the occasion, Baseer Ahmad, convener of the new front, alleged all successive governments in the country since independence had done little for the Muslim community.

Ahmad of Insaf Party which merged with the United Muslim Front, asked the Muslim community to join the Front and dissociate itself from various political parties, including the Samajwadi Party, the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Congress which had allegedly used the community as their vote banks.

New Delhi, July 15
The government has “initiated necessary action” to increase the strength of Judges in Union Territories in compliance with a Supreme Court judgement stressing a ratio of 50 Judges per million of the population as against the existing 13 Judges per million people, it was officially stated today.

The judgement was delivered in the “All-India Judges Association Vs Union of India and others case” on March 21.

An official statement said: “The Centre has initiated necessary action for compliance of the Supreme Court judgement... for increasing the Judges’ strength in respect of Union Territories.”

It said the Centre had already written to the state governments to take steps in the matter.

The judgement called for at least a 10 per cent increase in the strength of judicial officers each year over the next five years.

Law Ministry officials recently estimated that adding 10 per cent judges across the nation was likely to require an annual investment of Rs 127 crore.

Considering population, India is estimated to have among the lowest number of Judges in the world. Perhaps, not surprisingly, 23.9 million cases are pending in Indian courts.

The country’s senior and subordinate judiciaries between them have less than 13,000 officers dispensing justice at district, state and national levels.

They include Munsifs, Sub-Judges, Civil Judges, Judicial Magistrates and District Magistrates, Session Judges and High Court and Supreme Court Justices and the Chief Justice of India.

The Judges to population ratio in India was placed by the Law Commission in 1987 at 10.5 per million people as against 50.9 in the UK, 57.7 in Australia, 75.2 in Canada, and 107 in the USA.

Observing that India was persisting in a pattern of conscious judicial understaffing followed by the British rulers in keeping with their colonial interests, the commission had recommended a nearly five-fold increase, raising the judiciary strength to 50 per million people.

The commission’s findings were endorsed by a Standing Committee of Parliament on Home Affairs, which recommended implementing an increase in a phased manner.
UNI

New Delhi, July 15
There will be no change in Jammu and Kashmir Governor and Mr
G.C. Saxena would continue to occupy this post till the elections for the state Assembly are held later this year.

Deputy Prime Minister and Union Home Minister
L.K. Advani spoke to Governor Saxena recently and asked him to continue on his post till elections are over in the state. Authoritative sources said Governor Saxena has acceded to Mr Advani’s request.

Mr Saxena has made a written request to the Centre twice in the past one year, the last time about three months ago, seeking to be relieved of his gubernatorial assignment on grounds of his indifferent health, sources said.

Sources said the Ministry of Home Affairs was not inclined to change the Governor of a sensitive state like Jammu and Kashmir for the time being for continuity and better coordination among the Centre, the state, the security forces and the intelligence agencies.

The Centre is taking the forthcoming state Assembly elections, scheduled to be held by October this year, seriously.

Meanwhile, a mini-reshuffle of Governors of several states is on the cards. Delhi Lt-Governor Vijay Kapoor is tipped to get a promotion and he may be sent to Maharashtra as Governor in place of Mr P.C. Alexander who resigned last week.

West Bengal Governor Viren Shah may go to Karnataka as Governor while the Orissa Governor could be shifted to West Bengal as Mr Shah’s replacement, sources said.

Hyderabad, July 15
The national president of the People’s Union of Civil Liberties
(PUCL) K.G. Kannabiran today called for the involvement of the people of Jammu and Kashmir in decision-making to resolve the issues contributing to political turbulence in the state.

In a statement here, he said the current Hindutva theology should neither have relevance nor any role to play in decision-making.

Referring to the latest killings of slum-dwellers by militants, near Jammu, he alleged that it was Hindutva’s contribution which added a new dimension to the terrorism problem.

“Hindutva and its sadhus are proclaimed to be beyond the Constitution and the laws. After Narendra Modi’s Gujarat experiment, nobody dare check a person in ochre robe,’’ he said.
UNI

New Delhi, July 15
Leaders belonging to the majority and minority community continued to be disillusioned and obdurate after exchanging views for an hour and a half at the National Commission for Minorities (NCM) office here today.

In the absence of an agenda, burning issues like Gujarat and the Ram Janambhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute were not discussed at all.

The unprecedented interaction at the national level between representatives of the two communities was arranged by the NCM “in pursuance of its agenda to initiate dialogue between representatives of various communities for achieving communal harmony.”

As the NCM Chairman, Justice Mohd Shamim, read out a two-page resolution to about 34 participants and mediapersons, he was cut short by voices of dissent, who wanted to know the contents of the resolution.

Although the resolution stated that irritants and hate campaigns among communities ought to be shunned as part of the nation building exercise beyond narrow socio-political considerations, well-known scholar, Maulana Wahiduddin Khan said the meeting had only addressed the issue of the hate campaign against majorities. “Yeh adhuri baat hai (this is incomplete). The hate campaign against minorities should end.”

Praveen Togadia of the VHP said such dialogues should be followed by action. Expressing doubts about the intentions of the leadership of the minority community, he said, “The Muslim leaders should stay in the Kashmir valley and prove their credentials. The responsibility of Hindu-Muslim unity should not be on the shoulders of Hindus only. They have created a Pakistan in the Kashmir valley and have done ethnic cleansing of three lakh Kashmiri Hindus. We cannot give a blank cheque to anybody. There will not be one-way traffic. If they expect us to do something in Gujarat, there has to be a reciprocal gesture from their side.”

Asked if the dialogue would have a positive impact towards finding an amicable solution to the mandir-masjid dispute, Mr Togadia said, “Ram mandir ka prashna hamari bhavnaon ka prashn hai.” (The construction of the Ram mandir is linked to our sentiments).

NCM Vice-Chairman Tarlochan Singh said the goodwill meeting was organised to initiate a dialogue between the two communities. “We did not put any agenda. It is the beginning of a beginning,” he said.

Sources in the NCM said Maulana Mufti Ikram Sb (Muballigh-e-Gujrat), the lone speaker who tried to draw attention to the mandir-masjid dispute, was interrupted with a reminder that time was limited.

He said a two-minute silence was observed at the start of the meeting in memory of those killed in Gujarat and in the recent killings in Jammu.

Hazaribagh, July 15
In a shocking incident, two Dalit women were gangraped, stripped naked and paraded in the street of a village in extremist-hit Hazaribagh district of Jharkhand on Friday, according to a delayed official report here today.

Ms Kasia Devi and her daughter-in-law Basanti were allegedly gangraped by the henchmen of an influential businessman of Sudan village for their refusal to part with a small plot of land, Mr Hemand Toppo, DSP said after an on-the-spot inquiry at the village.

Mr Toppo said the henchmen of the businessman Rameshwar Modi raped Ms Kasia Devi and Ms Basanti in their home and paraded them naked for several hours in the village after smearing their faces with lime and cowdung.
PTI

Kolkata, July 15
In what could explain the high incidence of water-borne diseases among young school-goers, a UNICEF study has revealed that most of the over 51,000 primary schools in West Bengal were completely devoid of water and sanitation facilities, exposing children to contaminated sources of drinking water.

The study found that about 4 per cent primary schools of a total of 51,002 had toilet facilities and only 20 per cent had water facilities.

“The condition of water and sanitation facilities was also very poor, either non-functional or ill-maintained, if at all found in these public institutions,” Mr Somnath Basu of UNICEF, Kolkata, involved with the study, said.

“Lack of sanitation facilities causes serious inconveniences for teachers, particularly women, who often do not reside in the same village,” he said.
PTI

Bhopal, July 15
Representatives of the Narmada Control Authority, the Narmada Valley Development Authority
(NVDA) and the Grievances Redressal Authority chose to ignore the invitations to attend a public hearing at Chikhalda village in Dhar district on Saturday where the Sardar Sarovar project-affected people from the Narmada valley accused the authorities of resorting to high-handed methods to force them out of their villages.

The panel of judges included former Chairperson of National Commission for Women Mohini
Giri, Former Chief of Navy Vishnu Bhagavat, and senior Supreme Court advocates Venkatramani and Usha
Ramnathan.

The people complained that the Madhya Pradesh government had bypassed all existing legal and human rights norms by raising the height of Sardar Sarovar Dam and was using undemocratic means to coerce the people to vacate their houses and lands without providing any alternative lands or houses to
them.

Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) leader Medha Patkar outlined the magnitude of displacement, explaining how the people’s rights over natural resources were being snatched away and how callously the officials were dealing with the oustees and their problems.

New Delhi, July 15
Space Commission Chairman K. Kasturirangan and Secretary, Department of Biotechnology, Manju Sharma, have been chosen for this year’s G. M. Modi Innovative Science and Technology Award for their works in the fields of space technology and biotechnology, respectively.

Mr Kasturirangan will receive the award for 2002 for his significant contribution since 1994 towards enhancing the scientific and technological space capability of India, including the successful commissioning of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle.

India’s Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle, along with new generation satellites, have been launched under his leadership, a release from Gujar Mal Modi Science Foundation said today.

Ms Manju Sharma will be conferred the award for her pioneering research on sclereids and latex-bearing plants. She has also done commendable work in promoting biotechnology and its products in India and abroad, the release said.

The award, which carries a cash prize of Rs 1.01 lakh, the highest cash award in the field of science and technology and a silver shield and scroll of honour, will be presented by Union Minister for Science and Technology Murli Manohar Joshi here on August 9.

Instituted in 1988, the award is given each year to a person who has demonstrated the qualities of excellence and innovation through outstanding research and promotion of science in the country.
PTI

New Delhi, July 15
The exhibition of soft pornographic films cannot be legalised through issuance of special XA-rated censor certificates, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry has said.

The ministry has denied permission to the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) Chairman Vijay Anand to refer the issue of issuance of certificates to soft pornographic films to a six-member committee of the CBFC.

In a letter to Mr Anand, Information and Broadcasting Secretary Pawan Chopra said, “What is sought to be achieved by certification of films is to provide clean and healthy entertainment and to ensure that the medium of film remains responsible and sensitive to the values and standards of society.”

In this light, Mr Chopra wrote that a proposal for certifying such films would be construed to militate against the very objective of prior censorship of films.

Mr Chopra noted that the ministry had learnt from some questions by members of the Rajya Sabha about a suggestion to this effect received by the CBFC, which had been referred to the core committee of the board.

Information and Broadcasting Minister Sushma Swaraj also apprised a women’s delegation which met her this evening of the government’s stand in this regard.

The delegation, representing various women’s organisations, submitted a strongly-worded memorandum to Ms Swaraj, in which it expressed shock and anguish over the statement by Mr Anand.
UNI

Kochi, July 15
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) today came out in support of a recent controversial test conducted at a city hospital using sildenafil citrate (Viagra) to save the lives of three newborn babies.

RSS Kerala leaders P.E.B. Menon and R. Sanjayan told a news conference here that a medical lobby, backed by some city hospitals, was indulging in propaganda that the Amrita Institute of Medical Science, which conducted the test last month, had not received the necessary permission from competent authorities.

They pointed out that the test had proved successful, thereby saving the lives of three infants.

The hospital had earlier revealed that its staffer, Dr P.V. Rajiv, could save the lives of three “blue babies” suffering from pulmonary hypertension by treating them with a variant of the anti-impotence drug, Viagra.

The doctor administered the drug orally after consulting seven international medical journals which reported its use to treat adults in a similar condition.

However, paediatricians of some other hospitals have raised the question of medical ethics in the test. They point out that the institute should have obtained prior permission of the Drugs Controller of India to conduct such experiments on humans.

Disputing their contentions, institute vice-president A.P.S. Krishnan said since Viagra was a proven drug, there was no need for any prior permission. The doctor had applied the drug after referring several medical journals and going through tests conducted on such babies in Australia, he added.
UNI

New Delhi, July 15
A national assembly of workers convened by various central trade unions in the Capital today strongly condemned the “anti-labour” economic policies of the NDA government and announced a five-phase action programme to oppose them, including a march to Parliament in the next Budget session.

Trade union representatives from across the country gathered here at the assembly in order to display their solidarity before the nationwide awareness campaign is launched next month.

Trade union leaders also threatened to take recourse to more serious ways of protest, including general strike, if the government did not change its policies of reckless liberalisation and privatisation.

The march to Parliament, to be taken on the third day of the Budget session, will be preceded by a massive nationwide ‘satyagraha’ on January 8 when ‘rail roko’ and ‘rasta roko’ programmes will be organised in all states.

Gandhinagar, July 15
Three days after the successful completion of Lord Jagannath’s rathyatra in Gujarat, Mr K.P.S Gill, Security Adviser to Chief Minister Narendra
Modi, was given a warm farewell this afternoon in the presence of Mr
Modi, Chief Secretary G. Subbarao and DGP K. Chakravarty.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Modi said Mr Gill had met him a week ago and stated that he wanted to go back to New Delhi.
UNI

New Delhi, July 15
A 50.4 km long and 1 metre wide banner put up by Rotary International in Mumbai in February this year has been entered in the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest banner in the world.

The banner, put up by Rotary International on February 22 to spread the message of polio eradication and a polio-free India, was painted with colourful messages and slogans sent from different Rotary clubs across the country. The messages were stitched into one long banner for a mega show at Mumbai.

SUSPECTED ISI AGENT HELD IN GUJARATBHAVNAGAR:
The Gujarat police has arrested a former Indian Army soldier on charges of passing vital security information to Pakistan. Mr Anupam Singh Gehlot, (SP), said Indravadan Chandulal Bhatt (50) was arrested on Sunday when he was making a telephone call to an unidentified person in Lahore from a public telephone booth. The police found a diary and some documents having Pakistani telephone numbers and coded details from his bag.
UNI

FLOOD SITUATION IMPROVES IN ASSAM
GUWAHATI: The flood situation in Assam has improved with no casualty or devastation reported in the past 24 hours. The water level of the Brahmaputra has receded following some let-up in the rain. But the met office has apprehended more rains in the coming week. Meanwhile, sources said Railways personnel were working to restore services near Halflong, where landslide had snapped railway traffic upto Barak Valley and Tripura.
UNI

ULTRAS GUN DOWN TWO TRIBESMEN
AGARTALA: Outlawed tribal guerrillas shot dead two young tribesmen at Jamthumbari in Dhalai district on Sunday night. The police said the militants stormed into the village and fired indiscriminately at the inhabitants, killing the two youths on the spot.
UNI

SCRIBE, BROTHER SHOT IN UP
LUCKNOW: Armed miscreants shot dead a local scribe and his brother in Uttar Pradesh’s Sultanpur district, a police spokesman here said on Monday. The miscreants opened fire on the duo on Sunday while they were on way to their village on a scooter near Jagdishpur in the district, killing them on the spot. One of the miscreants was later killed in an encounter with police, he said.
PTI

FOUR ISI AGENTS ARRESTED
MUZAFFARNAGAR: Two days after the arrest of an NCC clerk for allegedly possessing sensitive information, police and Intelligence Bureau sleuths on Monday arrested four ISI agents, including a woman, in the district. Gayur, Shakila, Jan Mohammad and Ghaffar were arrested from Sherpur and Jat Mujhera villages for allegedly sending sensitive military information to Pakistan, ASP Nail Kumar Jain said.
PTI